Victory and Defeat

Even with her Ice Muscle Jade Bone, Le Mulan still felt as if her body was melting at this moment.

Fueled by the medicine, the power within her body erupted like molten lava, propelling her forward like a gust of wind.

Whether it's Ziyun High School, Purple Cloud Pharmaceutical, or her Lineage, they have all invested a lot of resources in this competition and in the subsequent promotion of new technologies.

This made Le Mulan feel a burden she had never felt before.

But she didn't resent this burden.

The care from her Lineage, the dedication from her parents, the guidance from her brother... all of this allowed her to live the life of a privileged daughter from a young age.

Because of her genes and her talent, after repeated tests, she was considered to be the most outstanding.

So they kept demanding, kept receiving preferential treatment, and kept being treated with all sorts of generous conditions...

This left Le Mulan with a lingering resentment.

She wanted everyone in the Lineage to know, and for her brothers and sisters who had been eliminated to understand.

She deserves this investment.

With this breakthrough in Body Tempering technology and the company's expansion into Physical Competition, she finally had the opportunity to prove herself to her Lineage and repay her parents.

Le Mulan's eyes were fixed on Yu Xinghan and Zhang Yu in the distance.

"I originally thought I could get second place..."

With a soft whoosh, Le Mulan leaped past Bai Zhenzhen.

"This distance..." Continuing to stare at Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan's figures, Le Mulan gritted her teeth and thought, "It's too difficult to catch up... No, I must at least try..."

Just then, Le Mulan was surprised to find a shadow appear beside her.

"Someone is catching up?"

"Who?"

"Song Hailong?"

But looking at that slender figure, Le Mulan knew it wasn't her.

"That's... Bai Zhenzhen?"

Seemingly surprised that the figure she had leaped past had caught up with her, a hint of astonishment flashed across Le Mulan's face.

"She actually managed to keep up?"

Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen, amidst the raging wind, felt waves of tearing pain throughout her body, and her internal organs were under immense pressure.

Unlike Zhang Yu, who relied solely on deep physical exploration and could unleash physical power beyond his limits without much medication, this was different.

Although Bai Zhenzhen had also benefited from some of the training effects of the Scarlet Marrow Primordial Qi through her Spirit Root during this period, she ultimately could not reach Zhang Yu's level.

So before the competition, she gave herself 12 acupuncture needles, which is where the pressure was felt in her internal organs.

But as she sped forward with Zhang Yu, and with her blood circulation accelerating and all her muscles working at full capacity, she felt the scars on her body becoming increasingly painful.

So she didn't continue running at full speed, but instead chose to stay in third place.

"Since we can't catch up with Yu Xinghan anyway, we'll leave this guy to Yu Zi."

"I need to conserve my energy; I can't afford to get injured before the next level..."

But just as Bai Zhenzhen was thinking this, Le Mulan caught up with her.

Bai Zhenzhen realized that she could no longer afford to preserve her strength.

"Yu Zi will defeat Yu Xinghan and take first place."

"I have to hold onto third place, or he'll laugh me to death."

Wisps of heat emanated from Bai Zhenzhen's body. With the intense exertion of her muscles, the scars on her body gradually turned crimson, as if they had transformed into dragon claws, constantly tearing at her body and causing her a pain as if her flesh was being ripped apart.

Sensing Bai Zhenzhen's relentless pursuit, Le Mulan desperately accelerated, trying to shake her off.

How could I lose to this poor man?

"I want everyone in my Lineage to know that the money invested in me was not wasted."

Bai Zhenzhen relentlessly pursued Le Mulan, the two figures sweeping across the track, the gusts of wind they stirred up colliding as if about to spark with lightning.

"I want to be in the top ten with Yu Zi!"

The crimson scars on Bai Zhenzhen's body became increasingly alluring, as if they were about to bleed under her full acceleration, and she felt a constant, excruciating pain as if her flesh was being torn apart.

"Damn it... I should have known better than to skimp on painkillers..."

A roar of anger rose in her heart. Bai Zhenzhen frantically pushed her increasingly painful body to its limits, and managed to fight Le Mulan to the last 500 meters.

Roar!

The two roared inwardly, their minds now focused on only one thing.

Surpass the opponent!

I want to surpass them!

The next moment, to Le Mulan's astonishment, Bai Zhenzhen stepped over her body and returned to third place.

But when Bai Zhenzhen looked ahead excitedly, she noticed that Zhang Yu had slowed down slightly.

Zhang Yu and Yu Xinghan, who had been neck and neck like two bolts of lightning, had already decided the winner.

Whoosh!

In the end, Yu Xinghan was the first to cross the finish line.

Zhang Yu followed closely behind, and stopped, pale-faced, after crossing the finish line.

Bai Zhenzhen was the third to cross the finish line, and ran up to Zhang Yu with a concerned look on her face. "What's wrong?"

Zhang Yu shook his head, indicating that he was fine.

Zhang Yu felt his heart. After fighting Yu Xinghan all the way, his body had been pushed to its limits time and time again. He felt his heart beating faster and faster, as if it was about to explode from his chest. His heartbeat seemed unable to keep up with the pressure Zhang Yu was putting on his body, unable to satisfy Zhang Yu will to make his body explode.

But even under such circumstances, under the pressure of this fierce battle, and under Zhang Yu's continued relentless exploitation, he could feel his heart breaking through its own limits in that short period of time, a transformation that would normally take several days to complete.

The cost was that his heart muscle was worn down and depleted in this contest, causing him to fall behind Yu Xinghan in the final sprint.

Zhang Yu thought to himself, "It's like muscles that have broken through their limits after training; they need to grow and recover before they can become stronger."

"Although my heart underwent a breakthrough under this pressure, it won't become stronger out of thin air. It needs time and resources to repair and grow before it becomes stronger than before..."

At that moment, Zhang Yu felt an extreme hunger throughout his body.

It needs a lot of food and nutrition to replenish the energy consumed in the recent competition. Furthermore, its heart, having already achieved a breakthrough, is eagerly awaiting nourishment, radiating a desire for nutrients and to become even stronger.

"Breaking through the limits is just breaking through the limits."

Zhang Yu touched his chest and thought, "True growth cannot be separated from a material and energy foundation. My heart wants to become stronger, and what it needs now is a lot of nutrition and food."

"Then, combined with the Scarlet Marrow Primordial Qi, it accelerates digestion and growth."

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The Level 10 Scarlet Marrow Primordial Qi gave Zhang Yu powerful metabolic and digestive abilities, which is one of the reasons why his Physical Strength was able to increase dramatically.

On the other side, Yu Xinghan glanced coldly at Zhang Yu, thinking to herself, "Was the final slowdown due to the drug wearing off? Or was it a side effect?"

Although he knew in his heart that the other party must have taken some kind of strong drug to keep up with him, being followed by a student from Songyang High School, especially one whose position as Golden Core Disciple had been taken away by him, made Yu Xinghan feel a strong sense of displeasure.

"It seems we were a bit too careless."

"I'll take some medicine for the next match too."

As the surrounding cameras were pointed at him, Yu Xinghan immediately smiled again, "Everyone, remember to pay attention to the Xianyun Corporation's Imitation Demon Muscle surgery next month..."

After leaving the competition venue, Yu Xinghan answered a phone call from Li Xuelian.

Li Xuelian is the daughter of Spark True Person and also Yu Xinghan's nominal senior sister.

Li Xuelian asked, "How did the competition go?"

Upon hearing Li Xuelian's question, Yu Xinghan reported the results, "I won first place in the first three rounds."

"If we win the last game, everything will be fine."

"Don't worry, senior sister, we won't let Immortal Charm's contract have any problems."

"Who else could be in first place overall in this Physical Competition besides me?"

In the audience seats.

Le Jingchen's expression was rather unpleasant, simply because Le Mulan hadn't even made it into the top three, only ranking fourth.

On the contrary, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, through some unknown means and with the help of potent drugs, actually managed to squeeze into the top three.

In particular, Zhang Yu was on par with Yu Xinghan for a period of time.

Although it was largely due to Yu Xinghan's deliberate retreat, it was enough to attract the attention of countless people and completely steal the spotlight from Le Mulan.

"Songyang High School..."

The thought that Ziyun High School had been overshadowed by Songyang High School made Le Jingchen's eyes flash with a cold light.

The next moment, accompanied by the phone vibrating, a series of messages were sent.

Le Jingchen glanced at his phone screen, thinking to himself, "Zhou Chechen from the Zhou Family and Lan Ling from the Lan Family said that Songyang High School hasn't made any technological breakthroughs?"

"And they even said that Zhang Yu... is White Dragon Zhang Pianpian's dog?"

Le Jingchen's heart skipped a beat. "It's White Dragon High School... Xianyun Corporation? Is this a dirty trick by Xianyun Corporation?"

He abruptly turned his head to look at the large screen, thinking to himself, "If Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen are also using Xianyun Corporation's technology, then wouldn't five of the top ten be people invested in by Xianyun Corporation?"

Le Jingchen seemed to have already foreseen that after the Physical Competition ended, with the revelation of the technology behind Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, White Dragon and Xianyun Corporation would become the biggest Ying Family.

After the third match ended, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen immediately headed to the buffet area.

As Zhang Yu walked, his face pale, he said, "A-Zhen, I need to eat more, then circulate my internal energy to digest it and strengthen my heart. That way, I can better unleash my physical strength in the next level and defeat Yu Xinghan."

Bai Zhenzhen frowned and said, "Even if we get first place in the next round, it won't be enough to get first place overall, right?"

In a Physical Competition, Physical Strength accounts for 50 points, agility for 75 points, speed for 75 points, and Strength Trial 150 points in the final round.

Bai Zhenzhen felt that even if Zhang Yu scored 150 points in the fourth round, he wouldn't be able to catch up to Yu Xinghan, who had already secured first place in the first three rounds.

"So it's not enough to just get first place; we also need to widen the gap between us and him in the Strength Trial."

"Yu Xinghan has a combined score of 200 points for the first three rounds, while I have 191 points."

Zhang Yu solemnly said, "The scoring is based on the contestants' performance. If I get first place and 150 points, the more stronger I am than Yu Xinghan in the next strength competition, the lower his score will be."

"To beat him, we have to keep him below 141 points, or... lead him by more than 9 points."

Bai Zhenzhen felt an immense sense of difficulty upon hearing this.

"In a competition with a total score of 150 points, leading that freak Yu Xinghan by more than 9 points? Is that even possible?"

Zhang Yu said, "Whether it's possible or not, we should at least try."

"Furthermore, to allow the contestants who have just exerted their full strength to get sufficient rest and recover their physical and mental energy, there will be a 1.5-hour break before starting the next stage. We can accomplish a lot in this 1.5-hour break."

Upon arriving at the buffet area, Bai Zhenzhen brought Zhang Yu plate after plate of food, watching him devour it greedily.

(End of this chapter)